Hi-sAFe is a 3-D mechanistic biophysical simulation model designed to explore the interactions within agroforestry systems that mix trees with crops.
The model couples the pre-existing STICS crop model to a new tree model that includes several plasticity mechanisms responsive to tree–tree and tree–crop competition for light, water, and nitrogen.
Hi-sAFe is a novel tool for exploring agroforestry designs (tree spacing, crop type, tree row orientation), management strategies (thinning, branch pruning, root pruning, fertilization, irrigation), and responses to environmental variation (latitude, climate change, soil depth, soil structure and fertility, fluctuating water table).
Hi-sAFe presents three original and exclusive modules for reporting interactions between plants:
- A competition module for light explicitly 3D but saving in computing time
- A competition module for water based on the concept of integration of the matrix flow potential that allows us to account for the behavior of different plants rooted in a heterogeneous medium
- A module of 3D root growth that accounts for the plasticity of perennial root systems
The development of the hi-sAFe model would not have been possible without funding from
